Anyone can become stressed or anxious when life presents challenges, and this is entirely normal. However, prolonged or intense stress and anxiety can begin to harm people’s relationships with others, especially their closest friends, family, and partners. Dealing with relationship anxiety from both internal and external stressors requires emotional intelligence and a willingness to adapt.
To succeed, it is essential for someone who is feeling these difficult emotions to understand how chronic stress and anxiety can create relationship challenges. From communication breakdowns, difficulty in approaching conflict, and emotional distancing, things can start to change quickly.
Learn how couples therapy provides tools and strategies for managing stress together, improving communication, and strengthening relationship resilience.
The Problems Caused by Relationship Anxiety & Stress
Anxiety and stress are more than just uncomfortable feelings. These feelings make it challenging to maintain self-control and emotional regulation when partners have a conflict. As a result, individuals may find that their relationships with friends, family, and partners change when stressors are impacting their daily lives.
Communication Breakdown
Often, one of the first things to become compromised during stressful times is communication. An individual may feel overwhelmed by their anxiousness and have trouble articulating their thoughts, especially if they are experiencing racing thoughts or non-specific stress.
When the sympathetic nervous system activates due to stressful situations, the body may begin to dampen all senses and functions that it does not deem essential for survival at that moment. That can include a person’s ability to listen and carefully consider another person’s words. It may also lead to unusually intense feelings of anger or desperation, which are not conducive to measured, thoughtful communication.
Emotional Distance
Stress and anxiety can cause a person to turn inward, creating distance between themselves and the people they love. The exclusion of others, emotional fatigue, and the aforementioned breakdown of communication often serve to isolate a person emotionally. They must focus attention on their own recovery and needs to recover.
Conflict Patterns
The way two people approach a disagreement may also change when one (or both) is stressed and anxious. Studies show that those who approach disagreement while stressed are less likely to fully emotionally recover within 24 hours after the encounter, leading to more frequent tension.
Additionally, stress causes an increase in defensiveness and more intense mood swings. These can make conflict resolution more difficult and prolong disagreements.
Why Couples Therapy Can Help With Relationship Anxiety
While stress and anxiety can have negative impacts on a relationship, it is possible to deal with these challenges in therapy. Some of the advantages that a couples therapist can bring to this situation include:
Stress Management Guidance
To deescalate conflict and maintain relational closeness while under stress, it is essential to learn how to manage that stress effectively. While experiencing stress or anxiety is normal, it is possible to learn to separate those emotions from one’s actions.
For example, a therapist may teach couples how to do deep breathing exercises or redirect their focus onto something else. They can also help patients create strategies for reducing the stressors in their lives so that they can live a more relaxed and fulfilling life.
Communication Practice
When stress is making communication difficult, a therapist can help. This includes being a safe place for participants to articulate their thoughts, even when they struggle to find the words or choose emotionally charged ones. A therapist teaches effective communication skills so that individuals can rely on what they have learned during times of stress. This removes some of the in-the-moment decision-making that can lead to poor communication.
Setting Boundaries
The effects of stress and anxiety impact everyone in a relationship, and sometimes, it is essential for the person suffering the consequences of someone else’s stress response to understand how to react.
Therapists can help people to set reasonable boundaries for how they will engage during such moments. For example, a therapist can help participants practice stepping away from an unproductive or emotionally charged conversation without attacking the other person.
Don’t Let Relationship Anxiety & Stress Burn You Out
Relationships built on a strong foundation can weather many challenges. However, chronic stress or anxiety can erode good habits over time. By inhibiting a person’s self-control and emotional regulation, stress can make good communication and healthy conflict difficult.
The team at Village Counseling helps people overcome relationship anxiety to build stronger connections, even when life is challenging. Contact Village Counseling to schedule an appointment today!